Live Blog: President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton on 60 Minutes

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will be on 60 Minutes together in just a few minutes–assuming the golf tournament coverage finishes on time. Here’s a thread to discuss their first joint interview. If you’re watching and can post comments at the same time, please do. My TV is in another room, so I’ll have to run back and forth.

President Obama also gave a “wide-ranging” interview to The New Republic, and the embargo on it was lifted a short time ago. You need to give your e-mail address in order to get access to the TNR article.

I liked what Hillary said about the staff and spouses taking longer to get over the campaign because I realized that’s true of me. As one of her supporters, I held a grudge much longer than Hillary did!

I thought it was a very good interview of two people who like and respect each other very much. I am also comforted to hear Hillary mention President Eisenhower’s admonitions against getting involved in foreign conflicts without fully understanding the possibilities. If that’s Obama’s guiding principle, I feel we are a lot better off than we have been in a very long time.

When asked about Syria in that TMR article, I like his response very much. He seems to be a pragmatic realist.

Every morning, I have what’s called the PDB—presidential daily briefing—and our intelligence and national security teams come in here and they essentially brief me on the events of the previous day. And very rarely is there good news. And a big chunk of my day is occupied by news of war, terrorism, ethnic clashes, violence done to innocents. And what I have to constantly wrestle with is where and when can the United States intervene or act in ways that advance our national interest, advance our security, and speak to our highest ideals and sense of common humanity.

And as I wrestle with those decisions, I am more mindful probably than most of not only our incredible strengths and capabilities, but also our limitations. In a situation like Syria, I have to ask, can we make a difference in that situation? Would a military intervention have an impact? How would it affect our ability to support troops who are still in Afghanistan? What would be the aftermath of our involvement on the ground? Could it trigger even worse violence or the use of chemical weapons? What offers the best prospect of a stable post-Assad regime? And how do I weigh tens of thousands who’ve been killed in Syria versus the tens of thousands who are currently being killed in the Congo?

Those are not simple questions. And you process them as best you can. You make the decisions you think balance all these equities, and you hope that, at the end of your presidency, you can look back and say, I made more right calls than not and that I saved lives where I could, and that America, as best it could in a difficult, dangerous world, was, net, a force for good.

That and what can we do, if anything, that will be the most help overall? One thing I don’t believe would he helpful is invading another country, even for supposedly humane reasons. Eventually the populations there will have to settle their problems for themselves.

Big Party for the Niners here……………You know, when they talked about Benghazie, I have to give them credit, because they said nothing negative about Stevens……….and you know I had the feeling that he might have been at fault. In that he walked around without much support and trusted those around him, when months earlier there were dangers lurking……. He knew it, but maybe his timing was wrong……..I could be wrong. But liked the interview, they handled themselves well, as I expected.

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